The Excavation of Hob's Barrow

[shaun9991]

Hey everyone! On September 28th we released our latest game, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow. We are so lucky to have Wadjet Eye Games on board as publisher! Development of this game began back in 2019, and I cannot stress how much blood, sweat and tears went into it

The game is available on Steam and GOG, for Windows, Mac and Linux!



Antiquarian Thomasina Bateman is writing a book on the barrows of England, documenting the treasures she finds buried within. When an intriguing letter summons her to the small village of Bewlay, tucked away in the remote countryside, she sets off by train with her assistant a day behind.

Upon her arrival, however, the mysterious man who summoned her is nowhere to be found. Her assistant never arrives. A stubborn landowner refuses access to the barrow, and the locals are wary of this woman who is traveling alone and (gasp!) wears trousers.

The excavation of Hob's Barrow is off to a rocky start. And then Thomasina starts having strange dreams...

Features
- A dark, complex and evolving storyline featuring interwoven elements from real English folklore.
- Traditional point and click adventure game puzzles and interactions, with an easy modern interface.
- A cast of intriguing characters, from suspicious villagers to sickly vicars to lordly landowners, all with their own unique stories and motives.
- A distinct folk horror tone and grounding.
- Evocative pixel-art graphics, featuring cut-scenes and engaging animations.
- A suitably atmospheric original soundtrack from The Machine. The Demon. - one half of the duo behind the award-winning "Football Game" soundtrack.
- Fiends in the furrows, the smell of damp soil, and a cat or two.





Hope you enjoy!

Cheers,
Shaun
Cloak and Dagger Games

[The Last To Know]

It was one of the best games I've played this year! 
You can read my review here (in German).

[kconan]

  They made my favorite off-beat adventure game of all time in "Legend of Hand" (Sequel please!), and so this was a Day 1 purchase.

  Congrats on the release, and I'll come back and leave a review after playing.

[Karmanaut]

I just got this game a few days ago, and I'm really enjoying it. In fact, it's what's led me here to discover Adventure Game Studio and this community.

May I ask, what resolution is Hob's Barrow in? I really like the low res graphics style.

[Crimson Wizard]

I completed this recently, a first full-length AGS game I played in a pretty long while.

This is a overall pleasant game, full of different and genuinely interesting characters. Sort of a game which I used to call "cinematic", as it's not focused on puzzle solving as much as on exploring the surroundings and following the character interactions, much like watching the movie.

At the same time there have been few things in this game which left me much confused, as they felt inconsistent with the character, whether too "gamey", difficult to believe, or just weird. I am speaking about certain decisions which the heroine had to make, such as...

Spoiler

... investigating the barely known town late in the night, following a random missing person, while having no pressing need to do so,
... making her way into animal's ground hole having very little actual reason to do so,
... having to perform a weird combination in order to get to a certain lord's mansion, although there were no visible obstacle to do so on your own,
... staunchly refusing to carry umbrella, although it's been raining each second day,
... proceeding to investigate the depths of the barrow without a working light source, or any supplies, even though there's no expectation of what may be found there (how do you do anything without a light?)

[close]

...at some point I've been wondering if the character is literally loosing her mind (or if that is an intentionally made impression).


The final part of the game, which takes place inside the barrow, is quite different in nature, which is understandable. But this unfortunately became my least favourite part of the game. It has this classic design trope of "random puzzles in the tomb", where you constantly wonder why would any ancient people create these at all. This part have smeared otherwise good impression somewhat.

[Mordalles]

Also wanted to add really enjoyed this game. Really atmospheric and cinematic. I caught up on some AGS games this year on steam.